


A Threat or a Promise?

by My_Alter_Ego



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen, Intellectual stalemates, Jung's Red Book, Mentions of Carl Jung, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:35:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26930719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Alter_Ego/pseuds/My_Alter_Ego
Summary: Neal is forced to have a session with the prison shrink.
Relationships: Neal Caffrey & Psychiatrist
Comments: 8
Kudos: 45





	A Threat or a Promise?

When Neal was sent to prison the first time, he found that one facet of the protocol for new inmates was a session with the resident psychiatrist. It was really more of a proactive stopgap measure on the part of the warden to identify those inmates who could become potential, even lethal, problems during the years of their confinement. It would be the first time that Neal was subjected to what he considered a shaman’s scrutiny. He didn’t have much faith in talk therapy, or having someone ask if he wet the bed when he was a youngster. To Neal’s way of thinking, everyone had a future looming before them, and you used freewill to decide exactly how you got there. It certainly had nothing to do with bedwetting or bullying. He didn’t see symptoms or triggers. In his mind, those were merely feeble and trite excuses.

To the in-house psychiatrist, Neal was challenging. During their short interview, the young man was a changing kaleidoscope of images—a charming persona one minute, then a cocky, sardonic millennial displaying hubris the next. The doctor knew it was all a smokescreen to confuse and frustrate the interviewer. He couldn’t manage to engage Neal Caffrey in any kind of introspective dialogue at all. However, the astute psychiatrist was adept at reading people. He suspected there was a clever intelligence carefully hidden just beneath the surface, so he made a suggestion.

“Are you familiar with a Swiss psychiatrist named Carl Jung?” he asked the inmate waiting patiently before him.

“I may have heard the name,” Caffrey answered noncommittedly.

“Yes, I’m sure you have,” the psychiatrist smiled. “Jung actually was the founder of psychoanalysis at the dawn of the 20th century. He has been touted as a genius, but a troubled childhood made him introverted and depressed his whole life. He found it helpful to journal thoughts that he couldn’t bring himself to share with others. Maybe that might be something you should consider.”

“I’m not exactly a ‘Dear Diary’ kind of guy,” Caffrey smirked.

“If you wrote words down on paper, would aspects of your life become too real for you?” the shrink challenged. “Or maybe you’re afraid that certain truths may endanger your sense of self-esteem.”

The new inmate leaned forward, not quite threatening, but in a posture that could be construed as intense frankness. “You’re correct about Jung, Doctor. He wrote volumes during his lifetime, but perhaps his most bizarre thoughts are contained in one final book, which he entitled _Liber Novus_. Scholars actually refer to it as his _‘Red Book,’_ and they can’t decide if the author led the life of a genius, or if his whole creative existence was simply a continuous drabble of introspection exemplifying a psychotic break. What’s your opinion? Was the old guy simply bat shit crazy?”

The shrink was really a bit surprised at this young man’s depth of knowledge. “You’re essentially correct,” he conceded. “Jung, himself, admitted that it was even hard for him to separate his fantasies from reality sometimes. Do you think you may have that problem, Mr. Caffrey?”

Suddenly, the young felon sat back in his chair and began to laugh. When that display ended, he favored the psychiatrist with a friendly smile. “Doc, criminals—or at least the smart ones—keep everything locked up here,” he said as he tapped the side of his head. “Maybe one day, I’ll write my own _Red Book_. It might seem like fantasy to some, but every word will be true. And trust me—it will knock people’s socks off!”


End file.
